


Edward, My love

by orphan_account



Category: IT (1990), IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Highschool AU, Reddie, Soulmate AU, maybe a lil benverly, no pennywise, they'll all be 18
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-04 10:48:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12769431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: As it was, on your 18th birthday, a soulmate mark would appear somewhere on your body. It would always be a simple black script, not unlike a tattoo, and the words that would be printed on your skin would be the first words your soulmate will say to you after you have both been given your marks.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I asked for Reddie prompts on tumblr and kind of went overboard on this one that I got from @hohnoni asking for a soulmate au? Tell me if you like it?  
> @pretty_chuckalicious on tumblr

Eddie woke up on the morning of his 18th birthday, stripped off his nightshirt and boxers, and stood naked in front of his bedroom mirror. As old fashioned at the idea was, and no matter how many people these days had little faith in the concept, Eddie always thought the idea of having a predetermined soulmate was delightfully romantic. 

As it was, on your 18th birthday, a soulmate mark would appear somewhere on your body. It would always be a simple black script, not unlike a tattoo, and the words that would be printed on your skin would be the first words your soulmate will say to you after you have both been given your marks.

Some people could have already met their soulmate before their 18th birthday, but wouldn’t know it until both marks have appeared and there was verbal confirmation. Some marks could be very vague like, “Hey there, how are ya?” or even as simple as “Hello.” This system, though based on fate, left a lot up to chance. It was because of this uncertainty that a lot of folks have given up on the idea of dedicating their lives to finding that one, special someone. Especially since most people believed that they could find any decent, kind person and build a strong relationship out of just that.

Quite a few people on the other hand, had more specific words dictated upon their skin. Quite a few people, such as our very own Eddie Kaspbrak. Written just below his left armpit, on the upper half of his ribcage, Eddie held one arm over his head and read the words aloud to himself.

Eddie always dreamed of one day finding his soulmate. He didn’t find out about the concept from his parents, as most children do during a similar conversation to “the talk” (Eddie’s mom never gave him that lecture either. She wanted to shelter Eddie from any idea or way of thinking that would one day lead him to abandon her for some other woman). 

The media wasn’t big on portraying the idea of soulmates either, considering how old fashioned of an idea it was. Long ago there used to be stories told of princes finding their princesses via soulmate inscriptions and all that sappy, romantic stuff that Eddie just about ate up. It wasn’t until AFTER he found out about soulmates for the first time that his friend Ben Hanscom(a fellow hopeless romantic) lead him to the fairytale section in the library and Eddie became determined to one day find his soulmate.

It was just about seven years ago today that Eddie first heard about the concept from one of his friends, Richie Tozier.

\--

Eddie and his best friend, Bill Denbrough, were hanging in their usual haunt, the Barrens. It was the end of the Summer of 1958 and the first day of 6th grade was only a few days away. Eddie and his friends had an exhausting summer, and he and Bill called up the rest of the gang to see if they wanted to spend a relaxing day together down in the Barrens.

“R-richie says he’s got suh-some big n-news to tell us when he guh-gets down here.” Bill said to Eddie over their card game.

“Trashmouth Tozier always has something big to say.” Eddie flipped over his ace and took Bill’s seven in return. All of their friends poke fun at each other from time to time, but out of everybody in their little ‘Losers Club’, as they called themselves, Richie was always making fun of Eddie the most. It was because of this that Eddie always assumed Richie didn’t like him like he did all the other losers. At the beginning of that summer Eddie figured that everybody liked Big Bill, and because Big Bill liked Eddie, they let him tag along.

It seemed that way when the summer first started, but Eddie started to believe that Bev, Mike, Stan and Ben all warmed up to him the more time they spent together. The Losers Club was like a family to him. Well, the losers club except for Richie.

The entire summer Richie would always pinch his cheeks and call him dumb nicknames and make fun of his mom or his fanny pack or anything else that the Trashmouth could come up with. It really sucked because next to Big Bill, Richie was the loser that Eddie most looked up to. Despite being messy, and always smelling like cigarettes, and never combing his hair and having an atrocious fashion sense, Richie had a lot of qualities that Eddie wished he had himself.

Richie did well in school, in terms of grades, less so in terms of conduct. Richie was tall and handsome, less tall and less handsome than Bill, most would say, but Richie had his own sometimes enchanting, often exhausting charm. The quality of Richie’s that Eddie most admired was his ambition. Richie wanted to be the world’s greatest ventriloquist, and despite the many problems that Eddie foresaw with this goal, Richie seemed like he was never giving up.

Richie was determined to make it out of Derry, their small hometown in Maine, and make a name for himself. He never stopped making jokes or laughing or trying to get others to smile. Richie could be crude a lot of the time, and most of the time he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and definitely didn’t know when to shut up, but you could always count on him for a good chuck when you’re feeling down. Or at least, anyone besides Eddie could count on that, considering Richie was usually the one getting Eddie down and making him the butt of the joke. Eddie wished so much to get along well with the boy with the big, bright eyes behind those ridiculous, cokebottle glasses.

“You talkin’ bout me down there, Eds?” Eddie and Bill looked up from their card game to see Richie galavanting over to where they were with Beverly Marsh following closely behind. “Hey there Big Bill! You guys havin any good chucks down there without me?”

Eddie hated the nickname Richie gave him. Maybe if he didn’t know Richie disliked him, he wouldn’t have minded as much.

“Things were pretty chuckalicious before you got here, Trashmouth,” Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Chuckalicious, Eds?! Mah deyah Edwahd, Ah do believe ah may be stahtin to rub off on yew,” Richie beamed and threw an arm over Eddie’s shoulders, knocking the playing cards out of Eddie’s hands.

“I-I think thuh-that might have be suh-sarcasm, Richie,”

“Why, Big Bill,” Richie put his other hand over his heart in mock-offense, “How dare you accuse my Eds of making fun of my mannerisms.”

Eddie shoved Richie off and Bill and Beverly laughed.

“How could you join them in such mockery my dear Bev? I demand a cigarette as a token of apology, and if you would be so kind as to provide a light.” Richie released Eddie and held his hands out to Bev.

“Alright Tozier, but only because it’s the last few days of summer. Try to bum off me during the school year, you can forget about it.”

“Thank you, my lady.” Richie took the cigarette in his mouth and pursed his lips while Bev lit it with one of her matches. She proceeded to light one for herself and offered the last of her pack to Bill.

Eddie felt funny being the only one out of the four not smoking. He glanced down at his fanny pack where he carried his aspirator, wishing Stan or Ben or Mike were here so it wouldn’t be so obvious. He had expected Richie to put his arm back over his shoulder, causing the smoke to blow in Eddie’s face, but he looked up to see that Richie was standing farther away and blowing smoke in the opposite direction. Was he being considerate?

When Bill, Bev and Richie were all finished and dropped their butts into the nearby running water, they all sat down in a circle outside of the underground clubhouse they built that summer. It was too nice and cool for once for them to sit inside. It was getting a little late and the group figured that the other losers weren’t going to make it out today.

“So wh-what’s the big news to-today Tr-tr-Trashmouth?,” Bill started.

“I almost forgot, Big Bill!” Richie sat up straight in excitement. “It’s time I teach you losers a lesson,” Richie reached out and grabbed Eddie’s hand by surprise, brought it up to his lips and planted a big, sloppy wet kiss onto Eddie’s knuckles like some sort of drooling prince, “about true love.”

“Ew, ew, ew,ew, ew! Trashmouth, what the hell?!” Eddie recoiled from Richie’s mock affection and reached into his fanny pack for a handkerchief to violently wipe his hand off with. Richie doubled over with laughter, Bill and Bev were less amused. 

“True love, Tozier? Since when were you the romantic type?” Bev asks, shaking her head.

“It just so happens, Beverly, that I am the only one out of all of us who knows the real meaning of pure, genuine romance,” Richie was suddenly serious. Bill looked at Richie skeptically.

What was Richie talking about? Eddie was starting to think that this was some sort of set up to a joke, maybe that kiss was going to lead Richie to calling Eddie the ugly frog prince, or however that story went. That was probably why it made Eddie blush, because of how angry he was feeling, definitely not because he thought it was charming.

“Puh-lease, Richie,” Eddie glared, “Do go on.”

“Thank you, Edward. Now,” Richie continued, “I have gathered you all here today because of the amazing discovery brought on to me by my dear old mom and pop. This morning they sat me down at the kitchen table and started to tell me about this whole ‘soulmate’ thing.” Eddie was immediately intrigued. The three other losers listened carefully while Richie explained the age-old tale of soulmates.

“So what, Richie? None of us are 18 yet and like you said, no one believes in that stuff anymore anyway.” Beverly added when Richie was finished

“That doesn’t mean we still don’t get the words, Bev! And just because boring old adults don’t believe in that stuff any more doesn’t make it not true,” Richie defended.

“Y-yeah, B-bev. My muh-mom and dad have th-their marks. I ju-just never knew wh-what they w-were until now. Ruh-richie’s Ruh-right.”

“You hear that, Bev,” Richie clapped Bill on the back, “Ruh-Richie’s Ruh-right!”

“Yeah,” Eddie spoke up quietly. Richie looked over at Eddie, eyes big and wide behind his glasses. Eddie looked down at his hands, “I think what Richie is saying sounds really nice.” If Eddie was looking back at Richie he would see the light blush on the other boys cheeks.

“Eds-” Richie started, but before Eddie could look up and before Richie could finish his thought, Bill interrupted.

“H-hey guys! Wh-what took you so long?”

Ben, Stan and Mike all came running down to the rest of the group with snacks and toy guns and candy. Mike called to the four sitting down, “We all met up and thought we’d bring some treats to celebrate the end of summer, you bums can pay us back later.”

A few hours went by of all the losers having fun and playing and being friends. 

When it started to get dark, the losers started heading home. Bill, Stan, and Mike left together on their bikes, since they had the farthest to travel back. Bev and Ben left walking together because Ben was going to stop at the Library and Bev lived close by. Eddie was saying goodbye to his friends and was about to head out when he heard Richie call out,

“Hey, Eddie!”

“Yeah, Richie?” Eddie figured Richie wouldn’t feel the need to tease him when there was no one else around to impress.

“I’m uh,” Richie looked down at Eddie’s shoes and let out a breath, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable when I kissed you and thanks for being cool when I was talking about all that soulmate junk and can I maybe walk you home?”

Oh.

“Richie… I mean, you’re welcome? But you don’t have to be nice to me just because, well, I don’t know, did Bill tell you you had to be nice to me or something?”

“What? Eds, Eddie, I’m being nice to you because you’re my friend. Do you not think that we’re friends?”

“You sure don’t make it seem like it.”

Richie was visibly hurt. After a pause he said, “Can I be your friend and walk you home? We both live close by and it’s dark out.”

“Yeah, okay.”

\--

No one brought up soulmates again after that (except Eddie when he could find someone who would listen to him gush) until years later when Beverly fist got her mark on her 18th birthday in the Summer of 1965.

It was the summer before senior year of high school and they were all closer than they’d ever been, despite Beverly moving a few towns over with her aunt, and Mike attending the Catholic school across town. Even Richie and Eddie started to get along better. Eddie warmed up to the idea that Richie just shows affection by picking on people, and that everything that he made fun of Eddie for, was something that he actually found charming. One day in 8th grade when Eddie showed up to board game night at Richie’s early, Richie admitted that he only picked on Eddie the most because he was his favorite. Eddie didn’t believe this for a second, but let it slide most of the time when Richie played it up, calling him “My Eds” or “Dearest Eddie”, he would still bat Richie’s hand away if he tried to pull any cheek-pinching shit.

Bev called all the losers (except for Richie who was away all summer in California visiting relatives) when she got her mark, but she didn’t tell anyone what it said because she wanted to wait for ‘the right moment’. Later that summer when Ben turned 18, she drove into town to pay him a visit. She looked him right in the eyes and said, “January Embers” He looked right back at her and responded, “My heart burns there too.”  
\--


	2. Chapter 2

Eddie’s first instinct after seeing his mark was to call Bill. Bill was his closest friend next to Richie, and he still didn’t know if Richie was back from his summer in Cali.

Bill didn’t really believe in all the soulmate stuff, the only person he ever had romantic feelings for was Beverly, and when that didn’t work out, he never really went looking for love. That’s why when he got his mark before everyone else, he didn’t bring it up. He had a simple, “Are you okay, big guy?” written on his inner left thigh, and he didn’t think much of it. 

Eddie on the other hand believed in this one and only true love schtick since Richie first told him and his friends about it in the Barrens. He was ecstatic, elated, invigorated--

“H-hello?”

“Bill do you know what today is?”

“Is th-this E-eddie?”

“No, It’s Huey Lewis, yes it’s Eddie!”

“Today’s y-your b-birthday, h-happy birthday!”

“Do you know what that means Bill?”

“Y-you’re 18?”

“And?”

“You’re an a-a-adult?”

“A-a-and?”

“E-eddie, c-c’mon.”

“I got it Bill, I got my mark!”

“Oh? O-oh yeah! What’s i-it s-s-say?”

“Edward, my love,” Eddie says in a dreamy voice, “you look positively beautiful.”

“Huh-holy cow, Eddie, what a s-sap!”

\--

When Bill and Eddie were finished with their conversation, it was 7:30am. They were both awake this early in the morning because it was their first day of their Senior year of High School and Eddie was going to be late for first period if he didn’t hurry up and get ready. He would have to hold off on telling all the losers about his mark until lunchtime.

He showed up to his class uncharacteristically late, which for Eddie was five minutes before the bell would go off. Richie Tozier on the other hand showed up to the same class uncharacteristically early, which for Richie was about 5 minutes after the bell had rung. Luckily, their teacher seemed to be running late that morning as well.

Richie sauntered on over to a seat next to Eddie in the front row.

“Edward, my love-”

Eddie choked on his own breadth.

“Hey, hey, woah hey, Eds, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Richie started patting Eddie on the back and proceeded to sit down. “Sorry I spooked ya, birthday boy.”

Eddie managed to catch his breath, “No, uh, I,” and then began coughing again.

“Eds, Eddie, calm down, my dear. I know seeing me for the first time in 8 weeks must be a lot for you. Especially with my new California glow.” Richie flashed a trashy smile and wiggled his eyebrows at Eddie.

Eddie stared. Eds. Eddie. Edward. My dear. Eddie Spaghetti. Not once does Eddie remember Richie ever calling him ‘his love’. Why now? It had to be a coincidence. Richie hadn’t been able to tease Eddie all summer, of course he’s gonna start right out with the big guns. Richie’s been in Californ- What was that about a California glow? 

Eddie blinked.

“Hey, Spaghetti man! Earth to Eduardo!” Richie tried to get Eddie’s attention, but by the time Eddie snapped out of it their teacher walked into the room and commanded all her students to focus.

\--

First period let out and Richie grabbed Eddie by the backpack strap before he could run out of the classroom.

“Eds, c’mon, I at least deserve a hello.”

Eddie looked up at the taller boy standing very closely in front of him. Richie had always been so goddamn tall, he had at least six inches on Eddie now. He got a haircut since the last time Eddie had seen him, his curls were still a mess, but it was shorter on the sides now. And that glow that he was talking about. Richie was slightly more tan, but what was most noticeable were all the freckles that came out due to the sun and sprinkled his not-quite-too-big nose and dusted his cheeks under his big, stupid glasses.

“Heya, Trashmouth. Nice seein ya, we really outta catch up, but you see, I gotta, uh, I have to go get my aspirator from the nurse’s office. Why don’t you see if Big Bill’s around- ACTUALLY maybe not Bill, he’s in a bit of a rough mood today, I would actually avoid talking to Bill at all costs, how about Stan? Stan must be around here somewhere you can go talk to him about what it’s like to have dumb curly hair! Okay, seeya!”

Eddie ran out of the classroom leaving a very confused Richie Tozier behind.

\--

Eddie knew he over reacted. Richie calling him ‘my love’ was most definitely a one time thing and the chances of him following it up with ‘you look positively beautiful’ were slim to none. He just had to get to Bill before Bill told any of the other losers what his mark said, just in case Richie catches on. 

Eddie really had nothing to worry about. He’ll just say he’s waiting for the right moment to tell everybody, like Bev did and like a lot of other people do. Besides, even if Richie did tell Eddie he was beautiful and whatnot, Richie’s birthday wasn’t until next month. If Richie was his soulmate, he wouldn’t hear those words from him until Richie got his mark too. And even then, if Richie said those words to Eddie, Eddie would have to say the right words back to Richie, and those words could be anything!

He just had to find Bill.

\--

Unfortunately Eddie and Bill didn’t have any classes together before lunchtime, so that meant Eddie had to find Bill in the Cafeteria before any of the others did, or at least before Richie. There! Eddie spotted Bill sitting down at a table across the caf and started to make his way over there when he saw who was about to sit down next to him.

“Edward, my--! Fuck Eddie!” 

Eddie completely tripped over himself when he heard the words come out of Richie’s mouth. Bill looked almost just as surprised as Eddie, but lucky for him, he was sitting down. Richie ran over to help Eddie up.

“Jesus Christ Eds I’m really driving you crazy today, huh? You falling for me? Head over heels as they say? Or, I guess in your case head over banana-heels!”

“Shut the fuck up Tozier, please help me up so I can go sit next to my friend Bill.”

“C’mon, Eds. I haven’t seen you in forever, can you please stop freaking out for like two seconds to say ‘welcome back’ to your best friend?” Richie reached out a hand to Eddie who was still on the floor.

Eddie let the corners of his lips turn up into a smile as he looked back up at Richie. This was stupid. Richie was his best friend and he’s been making an ass of himself in front of him since first period. He grabbed Richie’s hand and the taller boy helped him up. He pulled Richie into a hug in the middle of the Cafeteria, this caught Richie off guard and caused him to blush. He pushed Eddie away after a few seconds and looked at the floor.

“Alright, alright, we always knew you were the gushy type.”

Bill, Eddie and Richie sat together and chatted for a few minutes until Ben and Stan showed up. Ben had made Eddie a special Birthday cupcake and the rest of the losers apologized for not bringing him anything. Bill attempted to bring up Eddie’s soulmate mark, but Eddie quickly changed to subject. Bill thought Eddie would be excited to tell everyone like he was excited to tell him this morning, but because he knew Eddie so well, he didn’t press on about it and the conversation kept flowing. No one really made a big deal out of the soulmate thing anyway.

“Hey, Eds, why don’t we throw you a little shindig this weekend? I know you don’t really like parties, but my parents are out of town this weekend and we can all just come over my place and drink and hangout like the good old days?” Richie suggested.

“We can call Bev and Mike and see if they can make it too,” Stan added

The idea of his friends all putting something together just for him made Eddie warm inside. He really feels like he’s changed in their eyes from just being Big Bill’s tag-along, to a part of the group, a part of the family.

“Whaddaya say Eds?” Richie piped up

“I mean I’d have to convince my mom to let me out of the house, but yeah, guys. I think that’d be really fun.”

“Don’t worry boyyo, I’ll butter her up for ya!”

“Beep-Beep, Richie!”

__


	3. Chapter 3

“S-so what’s the d-d-deal Eddie? Wh-what happened between th-this morning a-a-and lunch that m-made you drop the s-s-soulmate thing?”

Bill could tell something was up with Eddie earlier at lunch so he offered to drive the smaller boy home from school. Eddie usually rides home with Richie because they live close to each other. Sometimes Eddie would stay over Richie’s house for a few hours before going home to face his mother. Of course his mother disapproved of Richie so he would always say he was staying after for extra help at school. Riding home with Richie today however, wasn’t an option. They were on their way to Bill’s car, Silver II, now.

“Aw man, Big Bill. I was gonna tell everybody today, but I ran into a little problem during first period… Well, a tall, curly haired, four-eyed problem.”

“What d-d-does Richie have to do with-- w-w-wait, you d-don’t think..?”

“Nah, Bill. I don’t think it’s Richie, but even if it was I wouldn’t be able to tell because his birthday isn’t until next month.”

“S-s-so you d-don’t want to say anyth-thing because…?”

“When Richie said hi to me this morning he called me ‘Edward, My love’” Eddie mocked Richie’s lovey-dovey voice and added air quotes around the dumb nickname.

“O-oh. So d-do you think?”

“I don’t know Bill! I mean, it’s not like Richie regularly calls me that”

“He almost c-c-called you that d-during lunch! Is that w-why y-you--”

“Yes Bill, that’s why I fell on my ass during lunch and why I almost triggered an asthma attack this morning and it’s why you can’t tell Richie what my soulmate mark says ever because he’ll hold it over my head for the rest of forever!”

Bill and Eddie were standing beside Bill’s car at this point. Bill was looking around the parking lot making sure that Eddie’s theatrics weren’t drawing a crowd.

“S-s-so, wh-what if it is Richie?”

What if it is Richie? Well, shit what if it is Richie? Eddie looked up at Bill and opened his mouth as if to say something when their private conversation was so rudely interrupted. Richie was driving by in his car, windows down and Stan in the passenger seat.

“Hey Denbrough, what are you doing with my darling, dear Eddie boy? Don’t you know he lives down the street from me? That means I get dibs on those cute, little cheeks!”

Bill whispered to Eddie, “I-i-is he talking about the ones on your face o-o-”

Eddie elbowed him in the side before he could finish his quip, “Forget about it today, Tozier, I have a project to do over at Bill’s,” Eddie shouted over to Richie

“On the first day of school?” Stan added from Richie’s passenger seat. Bill gave him an annoyed glare.

Richie pouted. Eddie’s been acting weird all day, there must be some reason he’s not hanging out with him. “Alright Eds, I’ll buy it for now. Stan and I are headed over to the arcade if you nerds wanna stop by.”

“Yeah, sure, Richie.” Eddie said back, distracted as he was getting into Bill’s passenger seat.

\--

Eddie went about the rest of his week not bringing up his soulmate mark to anyone, not even Bill. It was hard considering be brought it up in conversation just about every other day for the past seven years since he heard about it. None of his other friends seemed to care about soulmates, except for Richie. Ben and Bev only care now because they found each other, and Bill stopped caring a few years ago after him and Beverly dated for a very brief period.

Richie wasn’t as dead set on finding his soulmate as Eddie was, but he did entertain the notion from time to time. Eddie remembers a conversation the two of them had one day when Richie was driving Eddie home during their Junior year.

“You really think you’re going to find that one special person for you Edster?” Richie glanced over at Eddie from the driver’s seat. It was a warm, Spring afternoon and Richie had the windows down in his car, the wind making his already messy, dark curls even messier.

“I’ll make sure I do, Richie. Don’t you?”

“Ah don’t know, Eds,” Richie side-eyed Eddie without turning away from the road, trying to see if he could get Eddie riled up from using that dumb nickname. The smaller boy just rolled his eyes and looked out the window. “I bet on my 18th birthday I’ll get some weird-ass shit tattooed onto my ass like, ‘here’s your change, sir’, and I’ll have a mini heart attack every time I try to buy a pack of ring-dings. I don’t want to put myself through the stress or the disappointment of not finding my soulmate. I just want to make the best of what I got and be happy with the people in my life who already love me.”

Eddie knows that Richie usually isn’t a sentimental person, outwardly anyways. Over the years, when it was just Richie and Eddie hanging out alone, Richie has been known to show his softer side. Richie and Eddie bonded over a lot of stuff that they didn’t feel comfortable telling the other losers. Richie told Eddie about his ADHD before he told anyone else, and Richie knew things about Eddie’s homelife that Big Bill didn’t even know. It was nice for Eddie to know that he got to see a side of Richie that no one else got to see.

“What if your soulmate already loves you, Richie? What if you get your mark and somebody that you already know says the words to you that appear on your skin?”

“Well, I guess that would be a different story, Eds. But I got news for you, muchacho, I turn 18 this year and the only people I know and love are you, the losers, mom and pop. I bet this whole soulmate business is real and magical and whatnot, Eds, I just… I don’t know I just don’t want to go wasting my time chasing any dead ends.”

Eddie stayed quiet.

“Not that what you’re doing isn’t noble or anything, Eddie,” the mood in the car has gone from intimate and comfortable, to dry and melancholy. Maybe Richie wasn’t as determined as Eddie was to find his soulmate. Maybe this was disappointing to Eddie because he always admired how ambitious Richie was. Maybe he wanted Richie to be proud of his ambitions this time.

“Eds,” Richie stopped his car in front of Eddie’s place, “Are you getting out here or do you wanna come over and read comics or something?”

“I think I’ll just go home today, Richie, thanks for the ride. Eddie shot Richie a weak smile and got out of the car.

“Eddie, dear!” Richie’s voice brought Eddie out of his memory and back into present day.

“Richie, what are you doing here, class doesn’t start for another ten minutes and you’re not due for another twenty.”

“Cute, cute, cute!” Richie said as he sat down next to Eddie in the front row of their first period class. “It’s the day of your party, birthday boy, and you’ve barely said a word to me all week. I thought I’d drop in early and catch you before you could run away.”

Eddie felt guilty, he’s been trying so hard to keep to himself this week that he’s been ignoring everybody, especially Richie, his best friend with whom he hasn’t had a real conversation with in almost three months.

“I’m sorry, Richie, I’ve just had lot on my mind for the past week. Thanks for offering to throw me this get-to-gether, by the way. It means a lot.”

“Don’t you worry about it, Eddie, my boy. You know I’d do anything for the love of my life.” Richie shot Eddie a wink. When Richie realized Eddie wasn’t in the mood for goofing around he took a breath and looked at Eddie sincerely. “Eddie, what’s wrong? Is it the soulmate thing?”

“What?!” That sure caught Eddie of guard, “Did Bill say something?”

“What? No, it’s just you always used to talk about finding your- wait is it Bill? Is that why you haven’t been talking to me because you and Big Bill are bangin big time and you didn’t know how to break it to me, your best friend?”

This finally got a laugh out of Eddie, “No you big, goddamn, stupid, idiot!” Eddie smiled shook his head, Richie smiled back, happy to see his best friend acting like himself again.

“Then what is it, hot stuff? Did you find her yet? Like you always said you would?”

“No.”

“Did you find him yet?”

“That would be a no as well, Trashmouth.”

“But it is about the soulmate thing? What does Bill know about your soulmate that I don’t? I’m wounded, Edward, my love.”

There it fucking was again. Eddie stopped smiling and suddenly felt cold.

“Richie, could you not pry? I promise I won’t be mopey at the party tonight and I promise that I’d never tell Bill anything that I wouldn’t tell you. Just give it a rest for now, okay?”

“Okay, Eds, yeah. Sure.” Richie bit his lip and looked down at his desk and that made Eddie feel guilty again.

“Will you tell me about California when you drive me home today?” Eddie got Richie’s attention with that.

“You bet, Eddie Spaghetti!”

\--

Lunchtime passed and all the losers were talking about getting together at Richie’s place later that night.

“I called Bev yesterday and she said there’s no way she would miss Eddie’s birthday party! She also said she could single handedly provide us with all the alcohol we need, as long as we don’t ask any questions.” Ben announced. Eddie smiled at that, none of the losers except for Ben got to see Bev that often on account of her living farther away. He missed her a lot and and it made him happy to know she wanted to see him.

“I ran into Mike the other day and he said he was coming too,” Stan added.

“Guys, tonight’s gonna be so much fun, I can’t thank you all enough.” Eddie said.

“You mean you can’t thank me enough, Eddie Spaghetti. It was my idea, and, oh yeah, we are holding this gig at my place.” Richie stated as he leaned into Eddie’s side and put an arm around his shoulder like he did when they were kids.

“How about I thank you after you learn to call me by my name, Trashmouth?”

“Oh, excuse me! If you would pardon me, gentlemen I must be going to class. As for you, Edward,” Richie emphasised Eddie’s proper name, “I will see you in the parking lot at precisely 2:06pm sharp to drive you home,” Richie threw his bag over his shoulder and was about to exit the cafeteria, then he turned around and said, “Oh, and Edward?”

Eddie glared.

“Don’t be late.” Richie winked at Eddie and went on his way.

Bill shot Eddie a concerned glance. Eddie stared back at Bill. They both knew what hole Eddie just dug himself into.

\--

“Edward, my--”

“Richie, please. I get it, you’re hilarious, I asked you to call me by my name and now you’re calling me Edward instead of Eddie”

“I’m glad someone around here appreciates my humor.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. As much as hearing the name Edward made him want to gag, it was a little refreshing compared to all of Richie’s nicknames. Besides, Eddie wasn’t going to let Richie know he was bothering him, or else the trashmouth would never stop. “Drive me home, Richard.”

“As you wish, Edward.” Richie walks around to the side of his car and opens the passenger door for Eddie.

“Are you going to be this annoying tonight too?”

“You can only hope, my love”

Richie started his car and pulled out of the school parking lot.

“You told me that you would tell me about California. How was it?”

“Oh yeah. It was cool. I mean- not cool, it was like a bajillion degrees over there. Also everything is fake and bright and loud.”

“Sounds like your kind of place.” Eddie chuckled, pushed his seat back and put his feet up on the dashboard. Richie didn’t mind that he was getting it dirty.

“You know me so well Spagh- Edward.” Richie glanced at Eddie. Eddie rolled his eyes. They were so comfortable with each other it was like Richie had never left. “Anyway, yeah. It is my kind of place. I, uh, I visited a couple schools when I was over there too.”

“Oh yeah, you always said you’d get out of this dingy little town and make it big. I guess LA would be the place to have that happen.” Eddie was supposed to start applying to schools this year. Maybe he’d apply to a school in California, it would get him just about as far away as possible from Derry and his mother. The thought about Richie moving away to California scared him a little bit. What would he do without his best friend? What would he do if he ended up staying in Derry and all of his friends moved away?

“I would guess that you’re right.”

The two boys rode in comfortable silence until it was time for Eddie to get out. Richie stopped the car.

“Hey, Eddie?”

“Yeah, Rich?”

“I don’t know why you’re not telling me any of this soulmate junk. I don’t know if you think I don’t care or that I think you’re lame for it or something. But, Eddie, I know it’s important to you, and anything that’s important to you is important to me by association.”

Eddie felt his stomach drop, heavy with guilt. “Rich, I-”

“I know you don’t want to talk about it right now, and that’s cool, but Eddie, you know that you can tell me anything, right?”

Eddie smiled, “I know, Richie. And the same goes to you.”

Richie smiled back and blew Eddie a big, sloppy kiss goodbye. As he drove away he yelled out the window, “My place at 8, Edward, my love! Not a minute earlier!”

Oh fuck, Eddie thought, what if it is Richie?  
\--


	4. Chapter 4

“Rich! Just the young man I wanted to see!” Wentworth Tozier’s voice rang when Richie returned home from dropping Eddie off.

“Were you expecting any other young men to come wandering in through your front door, pops?” Richie kicked his shoes off next to the front door, threw his keys in the bowl on the kitchen counter, and his backpack on the kitchen table, where his mother, Maggie, was busy packing the last of her things for her weekend trip with Went.

“Well, I do see that Kaspbrak boy come in with you more often than not. Actually, I haven’t seen him around since school started, how is he, Rich?”

“Eddie’s fine dad, and I’m sure he misses you very much, but I couldn’t bring Eddie over yet today. Remember? We’re having his party here tonight.”

“Having a bunch of teenagers over my house while I won’t be around for two whole days to keep an eye on the place, it seems to have slipped my mind,” Went threw Richie a wink.

“Well, I certainly haven’t forgotten Richie,” Maggie chimed in, “And I know you haven’t forgotten your promise about how spotless the house is going to be when we return?”

“Of course! Mommy, dearest, please! Have some faith in your one and only child. Have I ever been any less than a model son for the last seventeen years and eleven months that you’ve known me?”

“If my memory serves me right, years one through four were a bit of a shit show,” Went commented.

“Spare me the vulgarity in my kitchen, please,” Maggie said as she zipped up the the luggage.

“Sorry, ma,” Richie and Went said harmoniously.

“What were you saying, pops, when I first came in?” Richie settled down at the kitchen table, grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl and started fidgeting with the stem.

“Right! Rich,” Went started, “Your Uncle Harvey called from California, said he had an in with one of the professors at that school you were looking into. He might be able to look over your application, give you a few tips.”

“Oh, yeah?” Richie replied, picking the stem from the fruit.

“Show some initiative, Richie, this could be a great opportunity!” Came from Maggie

  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, ma, trust me. I got big dreams for myself, I’ll call Uncle Harvey this weekend, see what he’s got for me,” Richie made a loud crunch as he bit into his apple.

About an hour later after Richie’s mom explained to him the protocol for emergencies, reminded him of all the food that was in the house, and making him promise one more time to be responsible that night and to make sure the house was spotless when they got back, Richie’s parents packed up the car and were on their way out of Derry for the weekend.

\---

Richie had too much on his mind and it seemed like his brain was trying to keep track of every single little detail and task that he had to pay attention to and take care of at once. Trying to focus on any one task was just giving him anxiety, so he grabbed his backpack, went up to his room and started making lists of everything that was on his mind so he could stop thinking and start getting ready to host his friends later that night.

He had several color coded pads of sticky notes that he would rely on in times like this.

List #1: School

-Call Uncle Harvey  
-Send thank you emails to tour guides  
-Study for SATs  
-Take SATs  
-Build portfolio  
-Keep current grades up  
-Narrow down list of schools to apply to  
-Apply to schools

Richie has always done well in school. He was plenty book smart. Every once in awhile he would get himself into trouble for running his mouth or getting distracted in class, but in terms of what colleges were going to see when they looked at his transcript, Richie was a model student. He wasn’t too worried about the SATs, he took the practice exam last year and got an almost perfect score.

What worried Richie most about applying to schools was his portfolio. Richie wanted to be an entertainer. His dream was to just make a living off of stand-up comedy, a dream that evolved from his original goal of wanting to be a ventriloquist, but he also wanted practical and steady work. He could be a comedy writer, a host, an actor, anything that could get his particular sense of humor sought after.

If Richie wanted to make any sort of connections that could land him any of these jobs, he would have to go to an arts college in California. To get into an arts school he needed to put together a portfolio of his work. He needed essays, scripts, audition tapes, you name it. Application deadlines were coming up in February and Richie was already well on his way to having all his shit together.

List #2: Family

-Clean the house before Ma and Pop get back

Easy enough.

List #3: Friends

-Eddie’s Party  
-Clean up  
-Gather games, snacks, movies  
-Remind, Ben, Bev and Mike about cake  
-Make sure everything’s okay with Eddie  
-Make sure no one dies tonight

Richie was really looking forward to having all his friends over tonight and hanging out like they used to. He hasn’t had a chance to really catch up with any of them since he got back. Stan and Richie have hung out a couple times in the past week, he hasn’t seen Bev or Mike yet, he only saw Ben during lunch time, Bill’s been too busy hanging out with Eddie, and Eddie seems to have been avoiding Richie except for the ten minutes they got to spend with each other on the rides home from school and the occasional small talk during first period.

Tonight, he’ll be able to tell everyone about what he was up to in California all summer, and he can find out how much fun everyone had for the past three months without him. He’s hoping he’ll at least get a few minutes to catch up with Eddie one on one.

Richie’s been trying not to pry, but he’s just so damn curious about Eddie’s soulmate mark. The pipsqueak hasn’t been able to shut up about it for seven years since Richie first told Eddie about soulmates, and so far Eddie hasn't said anything about since his birthday. Richie always let Eddie tell him about how dedicated he was to finding his one true love, especially because it seemed like no one else was really interested in listening to Eddie talk about it. Eddie was always supportive when Richie wanted to talk about his future as an entertainer. So, even though Richie wasn’t nearly as invested in this whole soulmate thing as Eddie was, he would always lend an ear to his best friend when he needed it.

Richie’s birthday was coming up in about a month and he knew that he was going to get a mark just like Eddie had earlier that week. Richie always figured he’d just leave the whole thing up to fate, if he stumbled upon his soul mate someday, then great, but if not, then he wouldn’t waste any energy being disappointed about it.

He knew that he would be perfectly happy finding someone nice and just building a relationship based on commitment and kindness and all that. He’d be happy finding someone nice, but not nauseatingly so; someone who would laugh at his jokes, but also call him out if he was out of line; maybe someone clean cut and a little uptight to balance out his chaotic lifestyle. Yeah, that’s all Richie needed. Just to keep himself from thinking about it, Richie wrote all that soulmate junk down on another sticky note labeled, “List #4: Sappy Shit”.

\---

“So you want to date Eddie?”

The party was about an hour away and Richie was getting bored so he offered to pick Stan up so they could go to the store together and get all the snacks they needed and have some help setting everything up before the rest of the losers came over. The two boys had finished all the work and now they were just chatting in Richie's room. Richie was splayed out on his bed and Stan was sitting at Richie’s desk.

When Stan asked his question, Richie shot straight up, “Where the fuck did that come from?”

“On this sticky note, here,” Stan held up Richie’s ‘Sappy Shit’ list, “You do realize you just described your perfect match as our one and only Eddie Kaspbrak, and I’ll give it to you Richie, the way you put it, it makes a lot of sense.”

“Give me that!,” Richie snatched the sticky note from out of Stan’s hand and looked it over, mumbling to himself.

“You see what I mean?”

“This could be describing anybody, Stan the man, that’s the whole point! I don’t need one perfect match to be happy! I can find any person to fit this super vague list of qualities and have a perfectly happy relationship.”

“So you’d be happy being in a relationship with Eddie, is what you’re saying?” At this point Stan was just trying to push this Eddie thing because of how riled up Richie seemed to be getting, though the idea of the two of his friends getting together was pretty interesting.

Richie paused, he was ready to come up with some sort of argument to Stan’s obvious provocation, but he honestly thought about what Stan was saying and, he couldn’t come up with any reason why he wouldn't be happy dating Eddie.

Eddie had been Richie’s best friend for the past seven years. Eddie was always willing to listen to Richie when he needed to get something off his chest. Eddie put up with all of Richie’s annoying habits like fidgeting, or getting distracted mid sentence. Eddie usually laughed at Richie’s jokes, unless the joke was particularly crude, then he usually got an eye roll, or a classic, ‘beep beep, Richie.'

Richie could always rely on Eddie to be down to come over and make fun of bad movies, or to go on long drives together when he just wanted to clear his head. Richie couldn’t think of a single reason why he wouldn’t be happy being in a relationship with his best friend except . . .

“Eddie already has a soulmate, Stan. And I don’t think there’s anything in this world, not even my good looks and winning personality, that could stop that boy from finding them,” Richie went from sitting straight up, to slumped over as he finished his statement.

Stan had a thought, “Well, how do we know it’s not you?”

“Me? Eddie’s soulmate? I don’t think the universe would be so cruel as to damn sweet, cute, little Eddie to an eternity with a crude, lankey trashmouth like me,” Stan couldn’t tell if Richie actually thought that way or if he was being overdramatic for comedic effect, “besides, don’t you think Spaghetti Man would have said something to me by now about it?”

“Remember when Bev got her mark and didn’t tell any of us about it?”

“Well, yeah but no one thought anything of it because none of us really cared about that stuff.”

“Do you remember why she didn’t tell us, though?”

“Well, because she knew it was Ben-” Richie straightened back up, eyes wide, “Bev knew who her soulmate was and she knew if she told us we would know it was Ben and she didn’t want Ben to know untill he got his mark!”

“So what if Eddie doesn’t want to tell us because-”

“Because if he says anything about what it says, we’ll be able to tell who his soulmate is!”

“And why wouldn’t Eddie want us to know who his soulmate is?”

“Because… because… it might, maybe, possibly… be me? Eddie’s soulmate mark might have something to do with me and he doesn’t want to say anything until I get my mark and we can confirm that we’re destined to spend the rest of our lives head over heels in love with each other?... Yowza...”

“Well, that could be the case, Richie, or, this could all end up being a huge misunderstanding or an uncanny coincidence.”

“Stan! The fuck?”

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kind feedback guys! I'm always taking drabble requests on tumblr @pretty_chuckalicious ! Feel free to request anything It related, it doesn't just have to be Reddie!
> 
> This is my first longer fic and I have a vague outline of how it's going to look but I'm kind of spitting these chapters out as they come to me(pls, forgive me)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I guess the party is going to be a couple chapters, whoops!

Richie and Stan heard the doorbell ring and ran down the stairs to answer it, Richie almost tripped over Stan on their way down. It was about half an hour before Bill was supposed to show up with the guest of honor in tow, so it must have been Mike, Bev and Ben. Ben drove over to Bev’s earlier in the afternoon and the two of them went to Mike’s place to bake Eddie’s birthday cake.

“Hey guys! Wow! What a cake!” Stan opened the door and greeted his three friends.

“Lemme see! Lemme see!” Richie whined, pushing Stan aside, “Wow, Haystack, Eds is gonna love it!”

“Aw, Richie, thanks! Bev and Mike helped too.” Ben blushed.

“Michael! Beverly!” Richie put an arm around each of their waists, “How the hell’ve you guys been, huh? Miss me?”

“Dreamed about you just about every night, Rich!” Bev laughed and planted a kiss on Richie’s cheek.

“Yeah, Trashmouth, had to go a whole summer without any of your jokes. It was a relief for a while, but it started to get a little boring about two months in,” Mike put his arm around Richie’s shoulders.

The three of them laughed and caught up for a bit while Ben and Stan set the cake up in the kitchen. When Ben and Stan walked back into the living room, Stan asked, “So, Bev, what kind of poison did you bring for us tonight?”

Richie sat down in his sofa and started on the chips and dip that he and Stan had put out. Mike and Ben sat on either side of him and started eating as well.

“Are you boys ready for this? Tonight I have for you...” Bev shrugged her backpack off her shoulders and pulled out two bottles, one in each hand, “Tequila for Ben, Stan and I, whiskey for Richie, Mike and Ben aaaaand, don’t tell Eddie about this one yet,” Bev reached back in her bag and pulled out a third bottle, “A bottle of pink moscato for the birthday boy!”

A round of applause came from the four boys, “Bev, my dear, you have completely outdone yourself!” Richie got up to give her a standing ovation.

“Do you guys have wrapping paper so I can give Eddie his wine as a present when he gets here?” Bev asked.

“Oh yeah, Richie had me bring some over so I could wrap his gift for him. Need anything else from upstairs, should I grab our gifts Richie?” Stan got up from the couch.

“Yeah, sure Stan the man. We can put all our gifts for Eddie on the kitchen table next to the cake.” Richie said through a mouth full of chips.

“Oh! Oh! Stan grab Richie’s guitar so he can play for us later! Eddie would love that!” Bev said excitedly, the rest of the guys agreed.

“I’ll help you get everything, Stan,” Mike offered and went up to Richie’s room with the other boy.

Richie sighed and leaned over onto Ben’s shoulder, “I guess I have no say in the matter, huh, Haystack?”

“Suck it up, Richie, you’ll make Eddie happy.”

Richie supposed Ben was right. Tonight was about making Eddie feel happy and loved, and Richie was going to make sure that happened.

\--

Eddie was surprisingly calm as he was getting ready to go to his party. His mom was out to dinner with her sister, which meant Eddie had the house to himself all afternoon without her around to give him unnecessary anxiety.

A week had gone by without any of his friends questioning his soul mate mark, except for Richie who only asked about it once and was super cool about it when Eddie didn’t feel like sharing. Eddie took a second to appreciate how understanding Richie and the rest of his friends could be. This was the first time the whole Losers Club was going to be together since the end of last school year, and all his friends were working hard to make sure tonight was going to be special.

By the time Bill was knocking on his front door, Eddie was overwhelmed with admiration and love for his friends. He remembered back to when he was ten years old and his only real friend was Bill. Now, he not only had his reliable, loyal best friend, Bill Denbrough, but he also had his messy, hilarious, closest friend, Richie Tozier; his fun, beautiful, flirty friend Beverly Marsh; his quiet, sympathetic, snarky friend Stanley Uris; his warm, welcoming, kind friend Ben Hanscom; and his smart, brave, charismatic friend Mike Hanlon.

For the first time in seven years, Eddie could care less about finding his one and only true love. He owed it to Richie and the rest of the losers to treat tonight like any other night and focus on the love that they already fill his heart with.

“Coming Big Bill!” Eddie shouted out his bedroom window so Bill could hear him from his front porch.

Tonight was going so much fun, and Eddie was going to make sure all his friends knew how much he appreciated them.

\--

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EDDIE!!” Came a chorus of voices as soon as Bill and Eddie were greeted at Richie’s front door.

“Thanks guys!” Eddie was then subdued into a group hug from all of them the minute he stepped inside.

“Eddie, it’s been too long!” Beverly shouted

“Eddie, man! I’ve missed you!” Mike added

“If you thought your birthday cupcake was tasty, just wait for the special cake we made for you!” Ben said more quietly, on account of being squished up, via hug, next to Eddie’s left ear.

“Oh and get ready for the pristine wrapping job I did on everyone’s gifts” Stan said proudly.

The hug dispersed and once Eddie had some space, Richie stepped up and clapped him lightly on the back, “Happy Birthday, Eds.”

Eddie looked up at Richie and smiled, “Thanks, Rich,” he said warmly, “And thanks all you guys! You got me cake? And presents? And you put all of this together? I honestly can’t fucking believe how lucky I am to have you guys.”

“Oh you think you love us now, Eddie Boy,” Bev started, “Wait till you see the present I brought for you!”

“Presents already? I just got here!”

“Only Bev’s!” Richie said, “Save the rest for later after the cake and everything! I want you to be dying with anticipation by the time you open my gift!”

The losers moved to the kitchen and Eddie saw all the presents that his friends got for him and he saw the cake that Ben, Mike and Bev had made. Eddie thought he couldn’t possibly be happier, but then Bev handed him her gift.

He neatly tore the wrapping paper off.

“Oh, Bev,” Eddie was holding back tears of joy. There was a card attached to the bottle of moscato, that read: ‘To my favorite wine mom, Eddie Kaspbrak, Happy Birthday!”

A single tear of joy rolled down Eddie’s cheek, “You shouldn’t have.”

\--

After about an hour, all of the losers were tastefully tipsy.

“Hey, Rich, wanna step out for a smoke?” Bev spoke up while everyone was comfortably settled in Richie’s living room. Mike, Stan and Bill were all sitting on the sofa. Bev and Ben were cuddling on Wentworth Toziers recliner, and Richie and Eddie were side by side on the loveseat. Richie’s arm was resting behind where Eddie was sitting, not quite draped around Eddie’s shoulders.

Eddie suddenly felt a familiar feeling of exclusion. He braced himself for the loss of RIchie’s body heat when the other boy would get up to go with Bev.

“Oh, uh, no thanks, Bevvy,” Richie said a little awkwardly

“What? Richie Tozier passing up a free smoke? What have I missed while not living in Derry?”

“I h-haven’t seen R-Richie smoke a cigarette s-since sophomore year,” Bill said as if he was just realizing this. Eddie was just as surprised as Bev, but now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw Richie smoking.

“Guys, I quit a year and a half ago, are you all just now realizing this?” Richie sounded amused and slightly offended at the same time.

“Give us a break, Richie, since you were eleven years old no one could name a more iconic duo than Richie and his pack of Camels,” Stan pointed out.

“It’s nice to know how much attention you guys pay to the little things,” Richie said.

“What’s the deal Trashmouth? Why’d you quit?” Bev asked as she pulled out her pack of cigarettes, ready to go outside on her own.

“Well I quit right around the time I got my driver’s licence,” Eddie noticed a light blush on his friend’s cheeks but he couldn’t tell if was because of the alcohol or what Richie was about to say, “And I figured Wheezy here wouldn’t let me drive him home from school everyday if riding in my car felt like sitting inside an ashtray.”

“Awwww, Richie!” Stan, Mike and Bill said simultaneously from the sofa, obviously intoxicated.

“Rich? Did you quit smoking for me?” Eddie turned to Riche, eyes wide.

Richie looked at Eddie, choked on his own breath and quickly took another sip of his drink. Flustered, Richie cleared his throat, “ I mean, yeah, partly, I guess…”

Eddie put his wine glass down on the coffee table and climbed onto Richie’s lap to squeeze him into a hug, almost spilling the other boy’s drink. “I love you so much Trashmouth!”

“Awwwwww, Eddieeee,” The same three boys called out to their friends.

“Shut it, stooges!”

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having so much fun with this fic! 
> 
> I like to think it's not as bad as it could be, seeing as it's my first go at this sort of thing.


	6. Chapter 6

“So, Eddie, why haven’t you said anything yet?” Mike asked.

“Said anything about what?” Eddie asked back.

“About your mark. It’s been a week and you haven’t said a word, aren’t you supposed to be the hopeless romantic?”

Richie and Bill all shot Mike a glare. Richie had to admit he was as, if not more curious than Mike was about Eddie’s mark, but he knew there was a reason Eddie was keeping his mouth shut and he didn’t want Mike to make Eddie uncomfortable.

“Don’t you know, M-Mike? Eddie’s fuh-following t-t-tradition!” Bill shouted. Richie looked at Bill, confused, but quickly caught onto what he was doing.

“Yeah, Mike! Eddie here is a little old-fashioned, as we all already knew.” Richie chimed in.

“What are you-” Eddie started to say, but Bill quickly continued with Richie’s point.

“Y-yeah, Mike, it’s a little o-o-old school, b-but Eddie d-doesnt w-w-w-w-wuh-”

“Eddie doesn’t want to say anything until he meets his soul mate, like the old tradition.” Richie looked at Bill and Eddie and gave them both a wink. Richie knew that Bill knew something about Eddie's soul mate mark, he also knew that for some reason whatever Bill and Eddie knew was something that Eddie didn't want anybody else to know.

“Oh,” Mike said suspiciously, “I just figured you would have told everybody by now, judging by how excited about the whole thing you always were, but, yeah, I get that, that’s actually pretty sweet, Eddie.”

“You know our Eds,” Richie leaned forward and threw an arm around Eddie’s shoulders, “Sappiest shithead I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting!”

“Stop teasing Eddie, RIchie,” Bev scolded, “He is a sweetheart and you’re lucky he puts up with your crude shit all the time.”

“Guys c’mon,” Eddie shifted away from Richie’s hold on him, “Don’t fight over me. Yeah, I don’t really wanna talk about my mark, and yeah I’m a stupid, sappy shithead,” 

All the losers quieted down, now that Eddie had all their attention.

“I want to find my soulmate, yeah.” Eddie looked around at all his friends, Richie was particularly intrigued. “I always liked the idea of having one special person who is absolutely perfect for me. When I feel lonely or shitty or whatever, sometimes thinking about that person being out there, waiting for me, makes me feel better. And I like to think that they think the same way about me. And I just can't wait for the day when we find each other and are able to make each other happy, not just in theory, but in reality. Every day for the rest of our lives we can spend our time making each other feel happy and loved and support each other and kiss and cuddle and all that stupid sappy shit and… and, yeah. So there, I talked about it and now I don't want to talk about it anymore.”

Richie was quiet, so were all the other losers, but he was the most visibly invested in Eddie’s speech. Eddie was a sap. Eddie was a sweetheart. Richie was an apathetic dipshit who's soul mate is probably out there thinking about him and about one day being happy together and here Richie is thinking, ‘well, shit, it's probably not even gonna happen anyway!’ Eddie’s soul mate was so damn lucky and Eddie was going to make whoever it was the happiest person on Earth and Richie couldn't even believe that just a few hours ago he thought that there was any way Richie could live up to Eddie's expectations. Who was Richie to even think that he could ever possibly deserve such a kind, sweet, considerate, loving --

“Aw, Eddie, look, you’re making Ben tear up,” Bev interrupted Richie’s thought. All the losers’ attention turned to Ben who was, in fact, fucking sobbing.

“C’mon guys! I’m-I’m just a little drunk and Eddie- Eddie’s so so damn sweet,” Ben reached for a napkin to blow his nose, “God, I love you so much, Beverly!”

“Alright, guys, someone, please, lighten the goddamn mood.” Stan said

“I know!” Bev got excited, “Play something for us Richie! Mike! You too! Get the band back together!” Richie and Mike laughed at the memory of the rock band that they tried to start together back in freshmen year of high school. They practiced a few times in Richie’s garage, and all the losers could agree that they weren’t half bad, Richie actually had a pretty decent singing voice, but they never had any members besides the two of them, and no rock band could get very far with just a lead guitarist and a drummer.

Richie knew he had to suck up his self pity and put on a show because tonight was Eddie's night, and he promised himself that he'd make sure Eddie had a good time.

“Would you like that, Eds? Mike and I sing you a couple o’ diddys and then we can break into your cake and you can finally open my gift that you’ve been dying to get all all night, huh?”

“You know I like to listen to you play, Rich. I'd like that a lot.”

“Alright, cutie pie, anything for you!” Richie patted Eddie on the shoulder, threw him a wink, and got to work.

Mike and Richie grabbed a couple of chairs from the kitchen table and set them up in front of the losers so they could properly put on a show. Bev, Ben, Stan and Bill arranged themselves on the couch with Eddie in the middle on Stan and Bill’s laps.

“Good evening lady and germs.” Richie sat down with his guitar next to Mike who grabbed a couple of pots and pans from the kitchen and set them up on the coffee table in front of them, along with some wooden spoons to use as drumsticks.

“What are we playing tonight, Richie boy?” Mike asked enthusiastically.

Richie thought of a song that he felt like playing, it was a bit on the nose, but he was drunk enough to let it fly, “Mikey I think we’re gonna play a modern classic, ‘It ain’t me babe’ but less Bob Dylan, more Turtles, can you dig it?”

“I can dig it! One-two-three-four!”

\--

Mike and Richie put on a pretty good show for a couple of drunk teenagers in a living room. All the losers were having a great time and laughing and singing along. After a few songs worth of Richie not-so-discretely pouring his heart out(an action that he hoped all of the losers were too drunk to pick up on), it was cake time.

“Alright, Eds, you think I’ve serenaded you enough for the evening?”

“Yeah, Richie Rich, I guess you and Mike can have a break.”

“Cake?” Stan spoke up

“C-cake b-break!!” Shouted Bill

“Cake break! Cake break! Cake break!” Mike and Ben took the hint from Bill and Stan and grabbed Eddie to carry him into the kitchen.

“Guys! Woah! What!” Eddie broke into laughter as his two friends hoisted him above their heads. He was drunk and dizzy and kind of afraid to fall, but then started laughing even harder when he heard Richie playing happy birthday on his guitar behind him. The losers all followed suit and formed a parade of singing and laughing into Richie’s kitchen.

“Guys guys guys okay you can put me down now!” Mike and Ben lowered Eddie down until he was standing up. Richie took both of his hands and guided him to a seat at the head of the kitchen table.

Ben lit all eighteen candles on Eddie’s birthday cake. When Eddie settled down, before Richie let go of his hands, the taller boy leaned down and whispered in Eddie’s ear, “Make a good wish for me ok, Eds?” Richie’s eyes looked so goddamn big behind his stupid glasses. Eddie’s seen him go through quite a few different frames since they were eleven, but even when the opportunity arouse to upgrade to thinner frames, Richie would chose a new pair of thick black ones.

“Alright, Buddy Holly,” Eddie responded while giggling, “Just for you.”

\--

After the losers had their fill of birthday cake, they all started to wind down a bit. It was time for Eddie to open his presents. Stan wanted Eddie to open his present first. It was a pastel pink and blue, slightly oversized sweater with little tiny sparrows all over it. Eddie took the sweater and put it on over his t-shirt immediately, claiming that he wasn’t going to take it off until next Spring. 

Next, it was Mike’s turn. Eddie pulled an oversized book out of the bag Mike handed him. It was a photo album and inside were pictures of the losers club from over the past seven years. This was a surprise to all the losers and they all gathered around as Eddie looked through pictures of them from when they all first met, through middle school and up to now. 

When it was time for Bill to give Eddie his gift, he first handed over a small bundle of tissue paper, mentioning that what was inside was from his little brother Georgie, who earlier begged to come to the party, but for obvious reasons was left at home. Inside the little bundle was a friendship bracelet that Georgie clearly handmade for him. Eddie put it on and told Bill that he would have to come over sometime next week to thank Georgie for it in person. 

Bill’s gift for Eddie was more practical and very much appreciated. It was small first aid kit that Eddie could fit into his fanny pack. It was efficient and convenient and would give Eddie an extra sense of comfort in his everyday life. Eddie let Bill know that his gift was extremely thoughtful.

“Alright, alright, alright!” Richie stood up from his seat and addressed the whole kitchen, “All of your gifts were very cute and Eddie was polite enough to accept them with much graciousness-”

“Richie don’t be rude! I love everyone’s gifts!” Eddie scolded.

“I know you think you do, Eds, but wait until you see what I got you.” Richie grabbed the last remaining present from off of the kitchen table and handed it over to Eddie. He then sat back down on the edge of his seat and watched in nervous anticipation for Eddie to open it.

“Oh, Richie!” Eddie gasped when he opened his present. He looked from his gift, to Richie, back to his gift, and back to Richie. Richie sat in his seat, looking too happy with himself, not saying anything.

“Wh-what is it E-Eddie?!” Bill asked. Everybody was curious.

“It- Rich did you- How did you-?”

“I pulled a few strings when I was over in Cali,” Richie finally said, “Don’t think too hard about it.”

“E-E-E-Eddie! What is it?!”

Eddie held up a copy of “All Summer Long” signed by all five of the Beach Boys, a band that Richie wasn’t particularly partial to himself, but Eddie absolutely adored.

“Richie, how the fuck did you manage that?!” Bev was visibly astounded.

“I know some people who know some people over in Cali, I said don’t think too hard about it! Now, Eddie, my perfect, adorable angel, which present out of everyone’s here was your favorite?” 

“Richie, you know I loved everyone’s presents and it’s not fair to pick favorites… But Ho-ly shit, Richie!!! How the fuck am I ever supposed to repay you?”

“I think you’re missing the point of a gift, Eds.”

Maybe it was the moscato, maybe it was the love of his friends, maybe it was the fact that he was holding a signed copy of his favorite album by his favorite band, but Eddie just started bawling right in the middle of Richie’s kitchen.

“Ok, ok, ok, Eds,” Richie rushed over to Eddie and started patting his back, “I understand you’re overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for my present.”

Eddie held his face in his hands, still crying, “Mm-hmm.”

“You seem a little tired, Eds, do you wanna maybe have a nice glass of water and start getting ready for bed?”

“Uh-huh”

“Okay, c’mon,” Richie helped Eddie up from his chair, “When you’re all sobered up in the morning you can give me and the rest of the gang our properly deserved thank yous.”

Eddie kept crying and stepped forward to bury his face in Richie’s chest, “I just love you guys s-s-s-s-so much!” Richie put his arms around Eddie and rubbed circles into his back.

“Alright, you pint-sized sap, you’re starting to sound like Stuttering Bill.”

“We love you too, Eddie!” Bev said joined Richie and Eddie in their hug.

“Happy Birthday, Eddie, we love you so much.” Ben was crying too, now, and piled onto the group.

“I love all you guys” Mike joined in.

‘“Aw, what the heck.” Stan stepped up. 

Lastly Bill joined silently.

The seven of them were one, big, sobbing, drunken mess of love and friendship.

\--

Soon after everyone settled down and got ready for bed. Richie made sure Eddie, who was the most drunk out of everyone, was safely and comfortably set up to sleep on his sofa.

“Did you have a happy birthday, Eds?” Richie kneeled down next to the sofa and whispered to Eddie.

“Yeah, Richie Rich, I did,” Eddie’s eyes were half-lidded, heavy with sleep. 'Thanks for everything, thanks for the record, thanks for, uhm . . . thanks for being so pretty,” and then he dozed right off.

Richie couldn’t help but laugh at that. He wondered how much of the night that Eddie would actually remember tomorrow. “Thanks for being so positively beautiful, Eds.” Richie pushed some of Eddie’s hair back from his forehead, leaned in and gave him a soft kiss goodnight.

As Richie grabbed his blanket and pillow and settled into the spot on his living room floor where he was going to fall asleep, he thought once more about Eddie’s soulmate. About how fucking lucky they were to be destined to end up with his best friend, and about how much Richie didn’t deserve to be that person. 

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My break ends tomorrow so updates are going to be less frequent. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who comments and sends me messages, you guys keep me going!!


	7. Chapter 7

It was one in the afternoon on the day after Eddie’s birthday party. All of the losers had gone their separate ways, except for Bev, who Richie convinced to stay and hang out with him for the day. Bev and Richie cleaned up the house and drove to a nearby diner to grab ‘breakfast’, which at this point was really a late lunch.

“Bev, we need to quit playing these games, will you just marry me already?” Richie said while he was shoving his banana chocolate chip pancakes in his mouth.

“Hmm, well, Ben might be a little upset at first… unless maybe you’d wanna work out some sort of sharing situation?”

“Actually, how about you and Ben just get married and adopt me?”

“I don’t know if Went and Maggie would be on board with that.”

“I could probably convince my dad to let me go. If I don’t go to school and just spend the rest of my life being taken care of by you and Ben, I could tell him that he doesn’t have to help pay for college anymore and I’d be out the door.”

Richie and Beverly were the kind of friends who could spend years apart, but any time they get back together they fall right back into their natural rhythm. Whenever Bev and Richie hung out they always had the most interesting stories to tell to the rest of the Losers. They’ve always been the most reckless pair out of the whole group, and when it was just the two of them, they didn’t have anyone to hold them back.

“Richie, you’re going to college. You’re going to work your ass off for the next few months, get accepted to some prestigious arts school in Cali, become super famous for being the funniest person in the country, and maybe then me and Ben will adopt you and you can take care of us instead.”

“I can always count on you to believe in me, mom.”

“Ew, no puh-lease don’t call me that again.”

“Alright, alright. So, what do you wanna do today? Does your aunt need you home by a certain time?”

“Nah, just drive me back whenever you’re sick of me.”

“You do know it’s impossible for me to get sick of you, Bev. Let’s do something dumb like we used to. We could grab a couple of six packs on go to the quarry?”

“Richie, it’s like, two o’clock, and we just drank a lot last night.”

“Yeah, but you’re here and I wanna do something dumb and irresponsible and also last night I didn’t even drink that much because I was trying to keep an eye on Eddie, the little twirp was wasted.”

“Hmm, help me out here, when are your eyes ever not on Eddie?”

Richie paused, he was almost surprised, and then he laughed. Of course Bev would pick up on it, “Am I that obvious?”

“To just about everyone but Eddie, it seems.”

“Well, good. Eddie doesn’t need to know that his best friend has a crush on him.”

“A crush?”

Richie sighed, “I think I’m in love with him, Bev.”

“I know.”

That made Richie smile, “Fuck you.”

“That is no way to talk to your mother, young man!”

The two of them were laughing again.

“Why can’t Eddie know that you have feelings for him?”

“Well, for one, he has a soulmate already. Maybe that’s why everyone else can tell, but he can’t, because he’s so blinded by the love he has for this nameless person.”

“And why can’t that person’s name be Richie Tozier?”

“Because it’s not, Bev! Because Eddie deserves someone who is as committed to this true love thing as he is! Someone who isn’t as distracted and flakey and sporadic and obnoxious and messy and crude and irresponsible as I am. If I was Eddie’s soulmate… I would just be a disappointment.”

“Richie. You are in no way a disappointment. You’re like my best friend in the whole entire world and you’re the funniest, most fun to be around person I’ve ever met. And I’m willing to fucking bet that Eddie Kaspbrak thinks so too.”

“Can we just go get kinda drunk and jump off some cliffs?”

“If you promise to love yourself and think about how much of awesome person you are. I’m willing to put this Eddie thing on the back burner, but I will not stand around while my best friend tries to convince me that he’s awful.”

“I don’t think I’m awful.”

“That’s a good start!”

\--

“Okay. You know what?”

“Enlighten me, Tozier.”

Bev and Richie spent the day at the quarry cliff diving and drinking beer and now they were lounging on some rocks next to the water, both stripped down to their underwear.

“So fucking what if I’m not Eddie’s soulmate, right?”

“Uhm, what do you mean?”

“So like. There’s someone out there with Eddie’s words written somewhere on their body and blah blah blah they’re meant to be or whatever, but why can’t me and Eddie just be together instead?”

“Are you saying we should team up to track down Eddie’s soulmate and ‘take care of them’” Bev was laughing at her own ridiculous suggestion.

“No, Beverly I’m not suggesting that we commit first-degree murder.” Bev’s laughter made Richie laugh and after they calmed down, Richie continued, “What if, what if I prove to Eddie that I’m just as good as any other guy that he’d end up with? What if I prove to him that I’m a better match for him than whatever asshole the universe planned for him to end up with?”

“So no murder, but you are suggesting that you betray the natural order of the universe for the sake of love? I’m into this!”

“Uh, hey, Bev?” Richie suddenly derailed from the conversation topic.

“Uh ya?”

“You’re drunk.”

“Yes.”

“I’m drunk.”

“Uh huh.”

“How’d we get here?”

“You drove?”

“How was I supposed to get you home?”

“You were gunna drive? Wait, fuck! Omygod!” Beverly starting laughing and that made Richie start laughing again too. “How are we getting back, Trashmouth? Are you gunna leave your car here? How am I getting home?”

“Calm down, omygod, Bevvie, calm down. I’ll call Bill. He can bring his car over.”

“Can I just stay at your place? I don’t want to ask Bill or Ben to drive me home now, it’s too far and it’s too late.”

“Yeah sure. My parents won’t be back until later tomorrow, so if you want we can get more beer and chill at my place and maybe order like way too much food and watch some terrible movies? See if Bill wants to come too?”

“Maybe I will take you up on that marriage proposal, Trashmouth.”

“Haystack would literally murder me and you know it.”

“Just call Bill already, asshole.”

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Bev and Richie!!! 
> 
> Uhm I have a couple of other works up on tumblr including an st/it crossover? Go read em? Tell me if you like them?
> 
> Thank you so much for all the positive feedback! Honestly I was going to wait longer to update but everyone was being so positive and enthusiastic about the story that I just had to post this!


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